End stop for slide fasteners



Jline 7, 19 49. A. E. C LILE' ETAL 2,472,743

mm swor FOR sum msmwns Filed Sept. 23; 1944 INVENTORS- ALEXANDER M. BROWN.

-ALFRED E ..CARLILE ATT RNEY Patented June 7, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT GF'F [GE- 2,472,743 END: STOP FOR SLIDE FASTENERS Alfred I Garlile; Great Neck, N; Y., and Alexander M. Brown, Spring Lake Heights; N. J1, assignorsto. Talon, Inc., acorporation of: Pennsylvania Application September 23, 1944; Serial'No. 555,440

3 Claims.

This invention relates to slide fasteners and;

particularly, to an improved end stop therefor fier' limiting the movement of the slider along the fastener.

lin the application" of slide fasteners to certain garments; for-example; trousers and the like; it iirthe customarypracticeto construct the garment in" complete halves or parts with a slide fastener-stringer attached to each of the respectlver opposed partsor legh'alves; and thereafter to join the two leg halves or' parts together. In'suclr constructions; it'i's' necessary to connect the bottom ends'of' the stringers after the leg halves onpa'rts have been secured together. In other words, af-permanent" bottom end stop must tion is provided, thereby eliminating all of' the" above disadvantages;

Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the parts of the article or garment are substantially.

beapplied to the stringers of the slide fastener at or' adjacent the ends of the series of interlocking fastener elements so as to connect securely together.- the bottomend. of the stringers, which stop acts to limit the movement of the slider at 1 that. end of the fastener in a welllin'o'wn manner.

I=I eretofore, various types of connecting means dnQend'ls'tops have been suggested and used for attaching. such stringer ends together. While some of. these. connecting means or. end stops were satisfactory. in their. use oftentimes, they were; unsatisfacory in that they were difiicult. toiapply and usually, required. theneedof special.

toolsor otheri equipment: for applying the same. Usually in such applications, especially in the daselofl trousen flies, where the-bottomiends ofthe stningers have to be-joined near the crotch of toework convenientlysdue primarily tothe trouser construction; Dueto such. crowded working space; difficulty is: oftentimes experienced in pmpenlyapplying; such proposed. end stops or connectingmeans= to the ends of the fastener' theetrousers thew is not suflicient space in. which 1 strlngers a-nd; furthermore, after'such end stops were: applied,. a bulky appearance would result. Also, oftentimes; suchendl connecting means or ends stops were fragile intheir? construction and became? either disengaged from the stringers orfotherwisefailed; thereby defeating the purpose foriwhiclr they were intended and, eventually, the

such-- garlnents irra minimum amount" of time with 'the lea'st' amount of effort, without the necessityof any special tools or other equipment,

and; at: the same time; a. neat" fastener applicacompletely made and finished, each with its tape' carrying the fastener elements. and joined by the slider, thus enabling. each part to be completed'separately and. independently of the other part.

It isanother object. ofthe invention to provide an improved end v stop for slide fasteners which. issimple and inexpensive in its constructiomand, at the same time,.-onev which iseflic'ientand eifective in its use.

It is a further object of this invention to provideanimproved end. stop for slide fasteners which. can be easily and. conveniently applied tothe. fastener. and which will. securely grip the ma.- terial to which: it isattached; andat the same; time; one which is strong and rugged in its. con, struction so as not to bend. under stress.

It'zis still anotherobject of the-present invention to provide an end stop for slide fasteners which is universal in its use in that it may be.

applied to theafastener at any pointtherealong: and may be used'notonlyasaa bottom stop, but? also may be used at the upper or top end'of the? fastener. as a sot-called bridge-type topstopz.

Various other objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent: in thev course? of" the following specification, and will be par'-- ticularl'y pointedout in the appendedcIaims.

In the accompanyingdrawings, there is shown: for the purpose of illustration, one embodiment which our invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. I is a plan vi'ewof a slide fastener showing; our improved end stop incorporated therewithas a bottom stop;

Fig. 2' is a side view'of the fastener; as shown in. Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a bottom. end view of the fastener as" shownin Fig. 1;,

Fig. 4' is a sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5' is a plan view of thelupp'er end of a slide. fastener showing. our improved end stop incorporated therewith as a. bridge-type top stop; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the. improved end stop of the present inventionv Referring more particularly to the drawings; there is shown in Fig. 1 a conventional type,

slide fastener comprising cooperating series of spaced-apart interlocking fastener elements 2, attached to opposed beaded edges of tapes or stringers 3. There is supported on the series of interlocking fastener elements, a slider l for longitudinal movement therealong in opposite directions to open and close the fastener in a wellknown manner. Such a slider consists generally of spaced-apart upper and lower wings and 6, respectively, having inwardly extending flange portions or sides I connected by a neck 8 so as to provide substantially a Y-shaped channel body member. There is carried by the top wing 5 of the slider, in the present instance, a longitudinally extending lug 9, to which a pull member I0 is pivotally and slidably attached for manipulating the slider.

The improved end stop of the present invention, as more clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, comprises substantially a U-shaped member I2 preferably formed from a piece of either round, square or semi-circular-shaped wire which is bent so as to provide a pair of spaced-apart leg portions i3 and a central connecting portion It with each of the leg portions arranged preferably obtusely to the central connecting portion. The central connecting portion [4 is preferably offset from the leg portions I3 so as not. to be in the same plane therewith for a purpose hereinafter to be described. Each end portion of the wire is bent, as at I5, back upon its respective leg portion I3 and extends substantially the length thereof with the extreme end terminating preferably adjacent the central connecting portion l4 so as to provide a hook-like attaching portion IS on each of the leg portions. Each of the extreme ends of the wire is preferably pointed or has a sharpened edge, as at H, and there is arranged on each of the hook-shaped portions I6 on the side thereof adjacent their respective leg portions I3 at a point near the pointed ends II, preferably a knurled or irregular surface, such as a barb I8.

Our improved end stop is applied to the fastener in the following manner. After the stringers have been assembled with the interlocking fastener elements engaged with each other, the end stop is positioned at the bottom end of the fastener or at the point therealong at which it is desired that it be attached thereto, with the leg portions I3 thereof disposed to either side of the fastener elements and extending toward that portion of the fastener on which the slider is assembled, with the central connecting portion I4 disposed substantially parallel to the fastener elements. In positioning the end stop on the fastener, the pointed ends are disposed so that they will pass through the fabric when the fastener and end stop are moved relative to each other so that the hook-shaped attaching portions It will engage the fabric of the fastener. The fastener and end stop are then moved relative to each other and it will be seen upon such movement, that the sharp pointed ends ll of the stop will penetrate and pass through the tape stringer or material bordering the opening. Upon continued movement of the end stop relative to the fastener, it will be seen that the bends IS in the ends of the leg portions will finally be disposed at the point where the pointed ends I! penetrated the fabric or material. After the end stop has been positioned on the fastener in such a manner, it will be seen that the barbs IE on the extreme ends of the hook-shaped portions project or dig into the material or fabric along the opening thereby preventing displacement of the end stop from its assembled position on the fastener, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

It will be understood that our improved end stop, due to the construction thereof, may be applied to the bottom end of the fastener, as shown in Fig. l of the drawings, or may be applied to the fastener at any point therealong, or may be used as a bridge-type top stop, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, for connecting together the fastener stringers at the upper or closing end of the fastener, so as to act as a top stop. It will be understood also that it is not absolutely necessary that the endmost fastener elements at the bottom of the fastener be evenly meshed in order that the end stop of the present invention be applied thereto. In other words, as shown in Fig. l, the fastener elements on one stringer may extend below the fastener elements on the other stringer and in such case, it will be understood that the end stop is applied to the fastener so that the central connecting portion I 4 thereof is disposed in the vicinity of the endmost fastener element on the shorter stringer. When the endstop is applied in such a manner, it will be seen that the cross bar or central connecting portion I4 rests upon the upper side of the endmost fastener elements. This central connecting portion It is preferably offset from the leg portions I3 so that the leg portions will lie flat against the stringer or material rearwardly of the fastener elements when the cross bar or central connection i4 rests upon the fastener elements, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. By providing such a construction, the leg portions together with the central connecting portion prevents disengagement of the endmost fastener elements disposed between the leg portions when this portion of the fastener is subjected to lateral stress.

After the end stop has been attached to the fastener, as above described, it will be seen that the leg portions I3 are disposed angularly relative to the fastener elements 2, as shown in Fig. 1, and that they penetrate the material or stringer rearwardly of the fastener elements and at a spaced distance therefrom. This spacing of the leg portions from the outer ends of the fastener elements is provided so as to permit the slider to pass to a position between the leg portions of the stop, as shown in the broken lines of Fig. 1 of the drawings. By providing such an arrangement, it will be seen that the slider is permitted to move the full length of the fastener so as to provide a full opening thereof. It will be seen that when the slider is moved to its fully open position between the leg portions I3 of the end stop, that the flange portions or side walls I of the slider contact the leg portions and that the lower end of the slider contacts the central connecting portion I l. In other words, the leg portions I3 cooperate with the flanges I and the central connecting portion I4 cooperates with the lower end of the slider to prevent further movement of the slider along the fastener in an opening direction. If desired, the leg portions l3 may be designed or formed so as to conform substantially to the side walls or flanges of the slider, so as to fit around the outer contour thereof.

In case the end stop of the present invention is used as a bridge type top stop, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, it will be understood that it is applied to the fastener in substantially the same manner as if it were to be used as a bottom stop with the hook-shaped portions of the legs I3 penetrating the fabric or the material at a point adjacent the endmost fastener elements at the upper or closing end of the fastener. It will be seen that the end stop in being substantially U-shaped, conforms to the upper end of the slider and cooperates with the neck portion 8 and the upper end of the slider to limit the upper or closing movement thereof.

As a result of our invention, it will be seen that there is provided an end stop which may be quickly and conveniently applied to the fastener with the least amount of effort. One of the most important aspects of this invention is that the end stop can be applied to the bottom of the fastener without the necessity of ensuring that the endmost fastener elements of the stringers are even. In other words, if one stringer is longer than the other, it is not necessary that the fastener elements be removed from one of the stringers as in most cases, in order to apply our improved end stop. This is due to the fact that the cross bar or central connecting portion M will conveniently extend over the top of the fastener elements.

It will be seen that our improved end stop is designed in such a manner that a series of them may be conveniently held together in a group by lacquer or some other suitable adhesive so as to provide a strip of end stops in a manner similar to staples. In such a case, the strip of end stops could be fed from a magazine and the endmost stop of a strip, while still attached to the strip, could then be easily assembled on the fastener merely by forcing the pointed ends of the end stop through the fabric thereby attaching the endmost stop thereto. gether with the endmost stop attached thereto could then be merely pulled from the ends of the strip of stops so as to disengage the endmost stop therefrom. Thus, it will be seen that no The fastener totools whatsoever are necessary for assembling if:

or attaching the end stop of the present invention to the fastener which is another important advantage of our invention.

While we have shown and described one embodiment which our invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purpose of illustration and description, and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of our invention as defined in the appended claims.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. An end stop for slide fasteners of the class described, including a series of spaced interlocking fastener elements arranged along the opposed edges of a pair of stringer tapes and a slider mounted thereon for engaging and disengaging the same, consisting of a substantially U-shaped member having a pair of leg portions and a central connecting portion, fabric penetrating attaching means carried by each of said leg portions, said leg portions adapted to be positioned to either side of the fastener elements with attaching means penetrating the stringer tapes rearwardly of said fastener elements and with the open end of said U-shaped member disposed toward the slider with the central connecting portion arranged substantially parallel to the fastener elements whereby the slider is adapted to pass between said leg portions and be seated in the open end of said U-shaped member when it is moved to that end of the fastener at which the stop is positioned.

2. An end stop for slide fasteners of the class described, including a series of spaced interlocking fastener elements arranged along the opposed edges of a pair of stringer tapes and a slider mounted thereon for engaging and disengaging the same, consisting of a substantially U-shaped member formed from a piece of wire so as to provide a pair of leg portions and a central connecting portion, the ends of said Wire being bent back upon the respective leg portions so as to provide a hook-shaped attaching portion on each of said leg portions, said leg portions adapted to be positioned to either side of the fastener elements with the hook-shaped attaching portions thereof penetrating the tapes rearwardly of said elements and with the open end of said U-shaped member disposed toward the slid-er and with the central connecting portion of said stop arranged substantially parallel to the fastener elements whereby the slider is adapted to pass between the leg portions and be seated in the open end of said U-shaped member when it is moved to that end of the fastener at which the stop is positioned.

3. An end stop for slide fasteners of the class described, including a series of spaced interlocking fastener elements arranged along the opposed edges of a pair of stringer tapes and a slider mounted thereon for engaging and disengaging the same, consisting of a substantially U-shaped member formed from a piece of wire so as to provide a pair of leg portions and a central connecting portion, the ends of said wire being bent back upon the respective leg portions and passing through the tapes on each side of the fastener so as to provide hook-shaped attaching portions on each of said leg portions with the ends of said wire extending substantially the full length of said leg portions and the extreme ends terminating adjacent said central connecting portion, said leg portions adapted to penetrate said tapes on either side of the fastener rearwardly of the fastener elements with the open end of said U-shaped member adapted to be disposed toward the slider and with the central connecting portion disposed substantially parallel thereto whereby the slider is adapted to pass between the leg portions and be seated in the open end of said U-shaped member when it is moved to that end of the fastener at which the stop is positioned.

' ALFRED E. CARLILE.

ALEXANDER M. BROWN.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,562,254 Prentice Nov. 17, 1925 1,889,336 Legat Nov. 29, 1932 1,894,906 Henry, Jr Jan. 17, 1933 2,123,974 Smith July 19, 1938 

